Dragon Danger MLP
by BRICKOSAUR
Summary: Spike is on the trail of a dragon egg thief. Spikeless Twilight is a useless angstface. And a new Season Finale grade threat is coming. 30 chapters yo
1. Prologue

Softly rising, gently falling. She was melting, melding with the ground. Whisper enter, murmur return. Air stirred pollen and soil and fur, almost imperceptibly. Inhale combine, exhale excess. Fire powered her core, and it coursed through her veins by water.

She felt the elements working together in her to create and sustain life. Fury met with tranquility in her heart. She was serene. She was a leaf moving with the little waves around her. A tear sprang from each eye and she felt what she was looking for. A spark.

The sounds of the forest rushed into her ears. She was seized with a sudden storm of sensation. Every tremor on her skin was movement possibly miles away. She let the forest wash over and inside her; howl and splash, roar and quake moved in her and gradually settled.

When all was still, she opened her eyes. Each tree appeared in sharp clarity despite the near-darkness of twilight. She heard groans and flutters from the giants. They seemed talkative today. She slowly stood and brushed against a gnarled trunk on the way inside.

She pushed the door open, inhaling the familiar sweet scent of plants, brews, and exotic wood. She plucked earthy flowers from the basket where they hung, drying.

An ear pricked, head tilted. Feel and listen. A nod of understanding, then she scattered the petals onto a wooden counter. "This brew I make is not to heal, but for truths hidden to reveal," she murmured as she crushed the brittle flowers with a rolling pin.

She scooped up the purple crumbles and brought them to the low-burning fire at the center of her home. A large cauldron held bubbling water. Gently, she sprinkled the crushed flowers over the pot. They crackled and floated into the water.

She returned to her shelves to gather the right ingredients for the potion. She knew the recipe well. Birch bark and a dash of nightshade were added to the cauldron. She replaced iris with sprinkled nutmeg, as she was guided.

Steam rose from her drink, making cloudy shapes in the cool air. They gathered into more solid forms. A message for their maker. She leaned forward, trying to make out any of the images. The smoke showed the shrouded silhouette of an indistinct creature. It reared up, a pair of wings spreading from its shoulders. The creature sank to all fours, and the wings retracted and faded. Hundreds of blurred forms appeared, in all shapes. They flanked the first, leaning forward as they seemed to wait for...

The ground shook her into reality. Every part of her home vibrated, rattling jars and bottles. The smoky shapes spun together into a pillar. The pillar broke apart, glowing white. It came into bright focus, a familiar shape. A wide, towering tree stood in the air. Six purple-tinged branches invited her into its embrace. There the giant hovered, expectant.

She pulled back and puzzled. None of these images made sense. Usually a vision told her who needed her brews. Was the recipient of the potion supposed to be this tree?

The earth shook again. The smoky tree broke up, writhing and splayed in pain. The waves of agony that rolled off the vision wrapped around her and settled under her fur. This pain had to be _very_ real. A sense of urgency gripped her. Something was wrong-she had to get to the Tree!

Heart pounding, she tore out of the cottage. A hoofbeaten path stretched before her and she raced over it. She knew the bumps and curves of the path well enough to go top speed, even in the dark. She reached her other senses into the depths of the forest. Every sound and smell told her she was safe, but the trees were rigid and silent. She pushed faster.

Thick ferns fanned ahead. She jumped through them, emerging in a clearing. The air grew at once chilling and heavy, increasing as she crept deeper into the clearing. At the center stood the Tree of Harmony. It appeared normal at first glance; soft purple branches were tipped by the glowing Elements of Harmony. But its immediate surroundings sent her heart beating even faster.

The tree was wreathed in inky shadow. Liquid black seemed ready to pounce and suffocate the tree, to cut it off from all vision. Only a small blob of white light broke up the shadows. A violet pod grew at the roots of Harmony. The curious pod pulsed white. Then the light retreated, leaving the tree in darkness.

A thick vine erupted from the opening. It snaked up the trunk of the tree, splitting into several smaller vines. Each one curled along one of Harmony's five branches. As they reached the Elements, long green thorns erupted from every part of the vine... But they did not hurt the tree. They formed protective cages around the jewels, one by one. Last, the thick vine on the trunk shaped itself to curl around the sun, moon and the Element of Magic. Spiny teeth grew around the star. Once the vine stopped growing, it emitted a soft green glow.

Shadows retreated in the face of the new guardian. They hissed like a cold wind. They circled Harmony, as if looking for an opening. The thorns hardened, letting their glow extend further. They did not banish the shadow, but they kept it at bay.

A chill ran down her spine, and her senses returned to their normal state. She found herself staring, slack-jawed, at the tree. It stood alone, neither vines nor shadows surrounding it. The pod was gone, too. There was no sign the Tree of Harmony had ever been in danger. But the cold air remained.

Danger was coming. Something unseen threatened to crush the peace and harmony in Equestria. But the vision had shown her hope. A guardian to stave off the darkness. There _must_ be hope for protection. It was her role to guide this protector, but she must find them first.

She closed her eyes. Opened herself to ground and sky. Waited. Finally, the wind answered. Words came to her, and she whispered, in a voice not entirely her own:

 _Each Element in danger lies  
One born of Magic now must rise_

 _The master of the Six to be_

 _A Guardian of Harmony_


	2. Chapter 1: Power Pony Power Nap

"Okay. I'm ready," called an echoey voice from the hall. Spike glanced up in annoyance to see Twilight entering the study. He brushed the irritation aside - something _way_ more exciting was about to happen.

"Same here," Spike said, heaving himself out of his beanbag chair. He set _Power Ponies Issue 185_ aside and flashed his friend a thumbs-up.

Twilight raised her eyebrows. "I would have let you finish the comic. Are you that excited to get turned into a pony?"

"Yeah I am!" the dragon crowed. "It'll make an awesome entry for my Plot. Besides, I've read that issue three times." He jogged to a dot on the floor where Twilight had practiced transforming practice dummies.

His friend moved into position with a chuckle. "Ah yes. Your update letters. What was that called? Spike's Life or something?"

"Day in the Spike," Spike corrected. "Go for it." He spread his arms in a theatrical star shape.

Twilight lowered her head, squeezing her yes shut in concentration. As her horn lit, pink and white light enveloped Spike. His scales tingled warm. Suddenly he worried the change would hurt. Spike's whole body felt like putty; it squished and stretched, and his center of gravity shifted up. Spike fell forward, hearing two dull thumps on the floor. He saw flat blobs where his claws should be, still surrounded by magic. _It's working!_

That cursed it. Twilight gasped, and a bolt of fiery pain shot through Spike's chest. "Augh!" he cried, and felt the spell stop. The magic light faded as Spike's body reverted to its dragon form. He panted, on claws and knees. Spike's head and belly sagged, and his eyes felt _so … heavy …_

"Sorry, Spike," sighed Twilight, as the dragon eased to a stand. "The spell got the best of me. I'm not going to be able to try again until later, so you can go back to reading. Er - wait - have you packed yet?"

"Kind of," slurred Spike. "I'll go finish that."

He trudged to his bedroom and found a sack half-full of comic books and blank paper by the wall. He was packing light; just needed snacks for the trip. But his bed caught Spike's eye, and another wave of exhaustion hit him.

"I'll just take a quick power nap. Then I'll finish," Spike decided. He stumbled to his bed and flopped onto a pile of blankets, snoring in seconds.

 _Spike's feet and back pressed up against something smooth. He curled into a ball, comfortable and content. Everything was dark, and quiet, and warm._


	3. Chapter 2: Raritterfly

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight heard her friends coming up the lawn, but she waited for them to knock before throwing the door open. "You're right on time," she called over the five chimes of her grandpony clock. "Thanks again for accompanying us to the coast."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rainbow Dash scowled. "We would have been /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"early/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" if SOMEPONY hadn't stopped to fix every bit of clothing in Ponyville," she said, glaring at Rarity beside her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The unicorn flipped her hair. "Every piece? Hardly. I simply straightened costumes at Ponyville Theater. I want Sweetie belle's second performance to be just as stunning as last night's."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, no harm done," Twilight soothed. She invited the pair in and led them to the map room. "I'll go get Spike so he can see you do the spell. Then we can go."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight poked her head inside Spike's room to find him face down on his bed, clutching a burlap sack and snoring. Did he even pack!? The princess trotted to the bed. "Spike! Wake up! It's time to go," she barked./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He started awake and sat bolt upright. "Okay!" he rasped. "Just gotta get snacks and I'll be ready." He just sat there with furrowed eyebrows. As if they had alllll the time in the world. Then the dragon rubbed his eyes. His sack bounced with the movement, clearly all but empty. Twilight raised an eyebrow. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It's not worth arguing,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she sighed inwardly. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He'll survive packing light for this trip./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So she went back down to the map room. Twilight ignored Rainbow Dash's roaring and opened a drawer by the wall. The open drawer held two light blue pendants and a folded piece of parchment. She levitated one of the necklaces out of the drawer and met Rarity and Rainbow at the map table./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Where's Spike?" asked Rainbow Dash, slightly hoarse./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight rolled her eyes. "Coming. If he hasn't fallen back asleep. But we need to get going as soon as possible so let's just get this crystal on now." She levitated the necklace over to Rarity./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity took it in her own magic and clasped the golden chain around her neck. She admired the teal charm resting on her chest. "So I just … put magic in there and it will cast a spell?" she asked, running a hoof through her mane./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""This specific flying spell," Twilight clarified with an encouraging nod. "You've got it."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her friend bit her lip before taking a breath. As her horn lit, so did the pendant. Blue magic sank into the crystal until it glowed from inside./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then ribbons of light emerged from it. They snaked around Rarity, cocooning her The magic pulsed and glittered for a moment, before retreating back into the pendant. Rarity stood tall, a pair of perfect butterfly wings on her back. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wo-hoa, nice!" crowed Rainbow Dash. She circled Rarity from above./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aww, I missed it?" Spike joined the ponies with a pout. His sack was half-full, and he held a camera in his other claw. "You look great though," he told Rarity. "As always. Can I take a picture?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity beamed. "By all means," she invited, and posed./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ticking drew Twilight's attention to the grandpony clock. 5:11. "Be quick," she instructed, pacing. "Everypony meet me outside." She trotted outside, noting the sun's proximity to the horizon. She would /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"really/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" rather not fly across the ocean blind./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The princess left behind the sounds of clicking and "Work it!" Outside, she pulled out her notebook, opening it to a simply drawn map of Equestria. She traced her hoof east, landing on the ink splotch that was their meeting place./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Breeze ruffled Twilight's feathers and turned the page. Twilight saw the spell diagram she'd copied onto the page. She couldn't keep back a grin. This spell was going to change /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"everything. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She upturned her nose and relished the breeze, still smiling. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Eastward wind. If it stays behind us, we'll make good time./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"BAM!/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Twilight's companions all rocketed out the castle door. "Ha! Won by a landslide!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Are you guys ready for the trip of a lifetime?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah!" chimed in Spike. He high-fived Dash. "Ready to go see some DRAGONS!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're already seeing one!" laughed Rarity. "But I /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/am/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" positively buzzing to see Ember. It's been /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/ages/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"."/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe we should have given you bumblebee wings," Twilight teased. She put away her notebook and joined her friends in the air. "Let's go!" She took off at lightning speed; Rainbow Dash's energy was infectious. Twilight led the way out of Ponyville, beginning the journey to the dragon lands./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As they reached cloud-level altitudes, Twilight let Rainbow take the lead. Spike was beside Rarity, ready to steady the newer flier when needed. So Twilight took the rear and let herself sink into thought./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Rarity's charm is working remarkably well,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she noted. She would report it to her notebook when they landed. The temporary wings, though fragile, had remained complete and corporeal. And they carried Rarity as well as when Twilight had cast the same spell, years prior. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/If other spells can be set in stone, these crystals will be immensely powerful./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The spell to copy documents would be especially useful to capture. It had already begun to change Equestria; Twilight's creation MagicShare had enabled ponies to share the copy spell with the world. Now casters everywhere were copying books and spreading them coast to coast. Twilight's heart flew as high as she; the princess had taken it upon herself to start organizing a network of libraries all over the continent. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Just one more project on the pile./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Her chest tightened with familiar anxiety. She still had the school to run, on top of her duties as Princess of Friendship and Keeper of the Cutie Map. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/I might be in way over my head,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Twilight admitted. All her jobs were amazing, and every task helped spread friendship. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/But I could never do it alone./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She looked gratefully at her friends. They were champions, helping run the school and going where the Map called them. And Spike - "I don't know /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/what/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I would do without him."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What?" shouted Spike over the whipping wind. "Did you say something?" He was alone now, and staring quizzically at Twilight. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The alicorn blushed; she hadn't meant to think out loud. She caught up to her friend and shook her head. "Just talking to myself. Got bored of Rarity?" Twilight teased. Spike chuckled. Then he fell silent, his eyes growing distant./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight was content to have silence, but Spike seemed . . . off. Pensive. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Probably still waking up,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Twilight guessed. But she should make sure. "Hey," she murmured. "Are you okay?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hm?" Spike blinked. "Yeah. I'm good." More silence./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight tried again. "What are you thinking about?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike grimaced. After a pause, he spoke slowly. "I had the strangest dream. Earlier. I . . . Twilight, I think it was a memory."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight's ears flicked up. "Oh?" she prompted. "A memory of what?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike chewed his lip. "My parents."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rock in the face. Spike got ahead of Twilight, and she realized she had frozen. She hurried to catch up. She tried to compose her features, to ignore her now-pounding heart. Spike had definitely noticed, judging by his wide eyes. "Sorry, just wasn't expecting that," Twilight said quickly. She cursed herself for such a stupid reaction. "Tell me more," she encouraged her friend./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After seconds that lasted eons, Spike went on. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it was them. I didn't see them. But I felt this warmth. It felt /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/so good./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Like I've only felt it a few times . . ." The dragon fiddled with his camera strap, his cheeks reddening./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Spike, that's great to hear!" Twilight had finally found her voice. "Perfect timing, too. I wonder why you're getting this /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/now./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" We should ask Dragon Lord Ember about it when-"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I wanna find them!" Spike blurted. "Or - what happened to them. Yeah, I should ask Ember. I never figured it out and I dropped it for a long time but I just need to know. So you're not, like, mad or anything?" Spike gazed at Twilight with searching eyes./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight touched his shoulder. "Of course I'm not mad. It's totally normal to want to know your past. Just remember, whatever you find, we're family too. I'm so glad I get to know you, Number One Assistant."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike smiled, visibly relaxing. "I'm glad too. We're a great team-ugh, my eye itches." He scrubbed his puffing eyes with a claw. "This is gonna be a great trip, haha."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then the dragon gasped. "Twilight, look at Rarity!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She did. Rarity was on fire. The sun was setting, and Rarity's translucent wings were filled with red and yellow. Light dappled onto her coat like stained glass, turning the white unicorn a vibrant, dancing orange. For a moment, her friend was the sun./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight smirked. /I can see why Spike likes her./ The boy had already grabbed his camera, darting around the mare and taking furious pictures./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity and Rainbow finally realized what was going on, and the whole group paused their flight to watch Rarity dance in sunset's fiery light./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lapping water and the smell of salt carried over the breeze. Twilight rose above her friends to get a better look at the landscape. "Guys! I can see the ocean!" she called down. "We're almost there!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her friends cheered. "Race ya!" Spike shouted, and took off. "Rematch!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're on!" Rainbow zoomed after Spike, while Twilight and Rarity followed at a reasonable pace. Twilight scanned the cliffside for their meeting place, locating the rock off to the right. Two lithe silhouettes sat on the flat stone. One waved./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight pointed them out for Rarity and they coasted toward Ember. "I don't know who the other one is, though," mused Twilight./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity shook her head. "Nor do I. How thrilling! A new friend in the making."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike and Dash caught up to their friends above the rock. The dragons edged back to make room for the newcomers. "Hey, you made it," greeted Ember. She flashed a thumbs-up at Rarity. "Nice wings."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're nearly late," said the new dragon. The purple stranger scowled./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Nice to meet you too," muttered Rainbow Dash./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight stepped up, dipping her head to Ember. "Thank you for meeting us here, and for the invitation, Dragon Lord Ember." She turned to the other dragon. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship-"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Friendship," the stranger interrupted. "I know. I'm Flip, Princess of Punctuality. And if we don't get going, we'll be flying in the dark."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember elbowed Flip. "Be nice! She is right though," she said apologetically. "Sorry we don't have time to hang out, um, Rainbow and Rarity Dash?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Close. It's Rainbow Dash," supplied Dash. "No biggie. We better head, too. Let's hang soon though! A dragon race would be totally /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/epic./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Ready to go, Rare?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity nodded and fluttered her wings. "Indeed. I, too, look forward to our next meeting. I agree it is bound to be - epic," she said with a laugh. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rainbow launched into the air. Rarity followed suit, flapping erratically as she stabilized. The two friends waved and made their way back to the mainland, against the breeze. Twilight watched, and felt a pang in her heart. She always felt it when they parted ways. And she suspected she always would./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When her friends were no bigger than specks, Twilight turned toward the dragons. Beyond them lay the ocean, warm and brown with dusk. It seemed to whisper of sleeping mysteries, of all things new. Curiosity sparked inside Twilight. Energy and determination thrummed through her veins, and she smiled at the sea./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight brushed a hoof against the notebook poking out of her saddlebag. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Bring it on,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she answered. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/Bring on the past. Bring on the dragons!/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She gave a tiny nod to Spike, before smiling at Ember. "Ready when you are."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember stood. She opened her wings, and the other fliers fell in behind her. Twilight couldn't help a little dance of excitement. Rainbow Dash had said it perfectly. This was going to be the trip of a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"/lifetime./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The sound of wind over wings was her reply. All four fliers had their wings unfurled, ready to take flight. Ember turned and pointed past the sea. "Let's go."/span/p 


	4. Chapter 3: Thursday's Thrilling Story

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rarity grew less defined as she flew west with Rainbow. Spike's heart squeezed. It was lame, but he couldn't tear his gaze from Rarity. He watched her go like it was the last time. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong id="docs-internal-guid-037faccf-fe66-7157-00ee-eb99e5fa4d2c" style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, it /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" the last time in some ways. When he came back, he'd be a different person. He'd know his parents and his place among dragons. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ha, she'll hardly recognize me!/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Spike thought with a laugh./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He turned to see Ember's wings open. At her command, the four of them took off over the ocean. It was way too windy for conversation; they flew in silence, watching the sun sink below the horizon. Reds gave way to purples, half-hiding all but Ember. They were all but alone in the gathering twilight; only clouds and a distant westward dragon dragon marked the sky./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember held the Bloodstone Scepter in one claw. She drew it to her lips briefly, and the stone glowed. The Dragon Lord turned so she faced her companions, flying backward. She jerked her nose up and pointed the scepter over her head. Wispy clouds blurred the red light, which moved as Ember flew into the clouds./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike exchanged a glance with Twilight, and they followed the red dot. They joined their friend above the clouds. The air was cold and still, broken only by wing flaps./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike glanced around. "Wait, Flip isn't up with us."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember shrugged. "She does what she wants. Unless I make it a direct order, I doubt we'll be seeing her until we're back down. Doesn't matter. I wanted to talk to you guys. I have some things planned for you, but there's also time for you to do what you want. Is there anything you wanna see?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike felt a hoof in his ribs. "I know I know!" he protested, glaring at Twilight. "I might have an idea." He explained his dream to Ember. "I want to know who these mystery parents are," he finished. "Can you swing that?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hmmmm." Ember trailed one claw in the clouds below as she thought. "There is something we can try. The nursery has pretty good records of families. We could go there and ask around. But," she continued, silencing Twilight's joy squeak with a glare, "she can't come. It's nothing personal, Twilight. This place is sacred. Dragons only. I don't make the rules," she said with a shrug./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike blinked and pointed weakly at the Bloodstone Scepter. "But . . . you're the . . ."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember broke into a grin. "Joking. I'm totally in charge. But it's tradition, you know? No sense in breaking tradition and risking an all-out dragon pony war."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""WHAT?" Twilight and Spike screeched in unison./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""KIDDING!" Ember burst out laughing. "It was a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"joke/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". Oh, your faces! You really need to learn to lighten up, Princess."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A head popped through the clouds just ahead. "I heard screams. Is someone getting tortured?" drawled Flip./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That was us," admitted Twilight. "Dragon Lord Ember, ah, surprised us."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Got us good," added Spike. "Hey, what if Flip comes tomorrow? We can get to know her. And while we go to the nursery, she can keep Twilight company," he suggested./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Flip lashed her tail. "No way. I've got stuff to do. I can't just hang around for hours doing nothing."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike deflated. "Oh . . ."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight darted ahead. "No, it's okay. You guys go. Ember, do you have any kind of record keeping in your lair? I would love to see those!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Actually," Ember replied, "I have a library. You're welcome to-" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""YES!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The dragon smirked. "It's a date."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It had to be past midnight when they tiptoed inside the Dragon Lord's Lair. Flip had parted ways at the shore of the dragon lands, with hardly a grunt. Ember went the other direction, leading Spike and Twilight into a large hole at the side of a mountain. The hallway was black, lit only by Ember's scepter. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A few steps in, Ember flicked open one claw to the side. With a sizzle, a fire lit on the wall. It sat on a glittering sconce affixed to the rock. Every few steps, Ember repeated the motion, until the whole hall was aglow./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh my gosh!" Twilight whispered into Spike's ear. "I didn't know dragons could light fires with spells!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ember stopped and faced them. "Turn around," she said, her eyes bright with mischief. She threw one claw forward. A gust of tingles whipped through Spike and down the hall. One by one, the wall fires succumbed to darkness. "Cool, huh," commented the Dragon Lord as Spike's eyes adjusted./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The coolest!" squeed Twilight. "You have to tell me how you-"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Shh!" Ember hissed. "You don't wanna wake him up."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike and Twilight spoke together. "Who?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The terror." Ember turned on her heel and stalked into the darkness./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Twilight and Spike exchanged another glance. "Is . . ." Spike side-whispered, "Is she joking?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Here's where we split up for the night," whispered Ember. Twilight, follow me. Spike, I'll be back in a bit." The girls' footsteps echoed long as they disappeared off to the left. Spike squinted up into blackness. He just made out a skeletal shape waaaay up, easily high enough for the last Dragon Lord to stand underneath. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I wonder where he is. Will Ember ever get that big?/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" he pondered, turning to look for a wall and finding Ember./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Dragon Lord whispered, "Okay, this way," and crept to Spike's right. He kept his eyes on Ember's flicking tail while he followed her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After less than a minute she turned with a grand gesture. "And /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"this . . ./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" is /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"your/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" room." Ember ducked through a small opening. Spike squeezed in after her, noting sharp stone that scraped his back. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Inside the cave were piles of straw and jewels. A tiny hole overhead let in a spot of moonlight, which fell on a stack of flat rocks. The room was small; Spike nearly tripped over Ember's tail trying to squish beside her. He looked up and found her face only inches from his. "Wah!" he yelped, and Ember blushed. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;" /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry! It's a bit cramped," she apologized. Ember pointed to the gems. "If you're anything like me, midnight snacks are the best. So, uh, enjoy. I'll get out of your scales so you can sleep. G'night." She sidled out of the cave and disappeared./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike smirked. Who knew? Ember could be awkward. It was cute. He briefly considered following the dragon to reassure her, but he thought better of it. There would be time./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"strong style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /strong/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Better get that update done," he mused, and reached into his sack. Spike dug past his snacks and pulled out the writing stuff. He scooched into the patch of moonlight and tapped his chin with his quill, replaying the day backwards./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"br /br /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spike nodded decisively. Then he put quill to the top of the parchment. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Thursday's Thrilling Story . . ./span/p 


	5. Chapter 4: Celestia's Spell

"Huuunnnnngghhh. Who am I kidding? I'm not going to get any sleep tonight." Twilight gave up trying to sleep spread-eagled on the hay. She pried her eyes open and rolled next to her saddle bag. _Might as well get something done._

She levitated the bag's contents and laid them around her. Twilight pulled out blank parchment and quills, a mechanical pair of glasses, books, and her surprise spell scroll from Celestia. She grinned and skimmed the spell that would let her and Ember send scrolls the way Spike and Celestia did. A mix of colorful symbols and perfect calligraphy guided Twilight through every step of the casting. Once she finished, she and Ember could correspond without pesky time and space constraints. They could learn so much! All thanks to a spell her brilliant mentor had written.

 _I hope one day I'll be able to create spells so elegant,_ she thought. "All in good time," she said in a regal whisper. Celestia would know just when to teach Twilight the secrets. She always did.

Twilight set the scroll aside and went for a quill and parchment. She had new findings - why had she waited this long to write them down!? She noted her observation earlier that night: _DL Ember magic - can light and extinguish torches._ How had she done it? Probably the Bloodstone Scepter. Ember had also made it glow on their flight. She added _BSS focus?_ below her first note.

What else had she learned? Well, if that new dragon, Flip, was any indication, dragons were still pretty frosty toward others. No surprise. And it wasn't really worth noting. Twilight hoped she would get another chance to win over the stranger. Then she'd have lots of material to add to her Dragon Friendship book!

Speaking of . . . "Oh yeah, she has a LIBRARY!" she squeed. Never in a million years would Twilight have guessed rough tough Ember would even want one. And she already HAD one! The implications of that were massive! So many questions. Did they write on scrolls or books? _Probably something less flammable,_ Twilight pointed out. And what was their writing system? It might be an opportunity to learn a whole new language!

Goodness, she could speculate for hours. But she'd find out in the morning, anyway. Twilight jotted down one more line: _EMBER LIBRARY NOTES._

She underlined the title with a decisive sweep of her quill. Satisfied, Twilight took a book off the top of the stack and read until the sky turned gray.

Her rumbling stomach brought Twilight out of the book world. For all of Ember's efforts, almost none of the plants she'd picked for dinner were edible. She was _starving._ Twilight might have to make a special trip just to -

Wait a second. Spike brought snacks! "Thank you, Spike!" She trotted out of her cave and followed one wall to the large room. She heard Spike's unmistakeable snoring and followed it into another little cave. Spike curled on one side of the room, while his bulging bag slumped against the opposite wall.

Twilight inched toward the sack and started levitating it. "Step AWAY from my stuff," grunted Spike. The dragon was squinting at her, teeth bared.

Twilight gasped and dropped the bag. "Hey, you don't need this! You clearly have enough," she defended, pointing at a pile of jewels next to his hay. "I didn't mean to wake you up though. Sorry. And good morning."

Spike kept his steely glare for a second. Then he smiled smugly. "Twilight, I'd recognize the sound of your magic if I was hibernating a continent away. Yeah, go ahead. Take whatever. I'm going back to bed."

He rolled over while Twilight rummaged through the bag. As she started munching a cold waffle, Spike sprang to his feet. "Never mind! Holy hay I forgot! We gotta go find Ember! And then my parents! TODAY!" For once Twilight was the one being taken away from her food as Spike pushed her out of his cave. "Come on! And don't you have your spell thingy?"

Twilight's ears flicked up. "Oh, right! I need to grab my scroll. You get Ember and I'll meet you in that big room in two minutes."

Five minutes later, scroll in hoof, Twilight faced two sleepy, blank-faced dragons in the torch-lit central cave. She'd just given them the pitch, and frankly this wasn't quite the reaction she'd envisioned. "Uh, surprise?" she finished.

Spike spoke first. "Twilight . . . this is a little weird. Even for you."

Was that an insult? Twilight furrowed her brow as she mulled the comment over. _I think I'm supposed to be offended by that,_ she concluded.

"Oh my stars FINE!" shouted Ember. "I'll do it! Just stop looking so mopey. I can't take it. Why do you ponies have to be so stupid cute?"

She'd take it. Twilight approached so she stood chest-to-chest with Ember. "It says I have to put my horn to your throat for . . . best results," she explained, blushing.

The Dragon Lord rolled her eyes. "Any excuse for physical contact," she jabbed. "All right, go for it." She half-crouched so Twilight could reach her throat.

 _Wait,_ she fretted. _Yesterday I failed that spell with Spike. What if I can't handle this, either? Maybe I'm losing power! What happens if I fail this one, too?_

No. She'd practiced this. _/You've got this,/_ she reassured herself. She laid her horn on Ember's throat and turned her head. Then she took a breath, and began to cast.

Twilight did her best to read the scroll out of the corner of her eye while concentrating on the spell. She couldn't see her own magic, so only Spike's occasional comment assured her she was doing okay. Eventually the instructions called for Twilight to gradually pull back. As she did, she saw a pink and orange string of light between her and the Dragon Lord. The string faded and dissipated into magic dust.

"Was that it?" asked Ember, fingering her throat.

"Yep, it's done," panted Twilight. She _always_ forgot to breathe. "Can we do a quick test?" She whipped out a piece of parchment and scrawled a quick message.

"Do a test and then let's go!" Spike called.

"Seconded," Ember said with a nod. "Do it."

Twilight rolled up the parchment and referred to the spell one more time. She was supposed to envision a straight road between her and Ember . . .

"Twiliiiiight," whined Spike.

"Okay, okay!" she protested. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and heard a pop and a burp. Ember was holding the parchment. She opened it and laughed. "It says 'Hi Ember.' Hi, Twilight."

"Hi," said Twilight. "Now send it back. Breathe fire onto it."

"Like THIS?" Ember coiled her neck back and blew a stream of bright orange fire across the room, buffeting Twilight. The scroll materialized.

The princess grabbed it from the air with her hooves and trapped it on the ground. "Perfect," she grinned. It felt like the first time she aced a test. _I knew I had it!_

Aaaaaand cut. Victory lap over. Spike cleared his throat loudly. "It's done?" He made a flying leap into the exit tunnel, Ember on his heels. "Okay great Twilight you write if you need anything Ember let's go byeeeee!"

Twilight glared at the tunnel. _Rude._ "Pbbbbbph. Gee, Spike. Thanks for the support!"


	6. Chapter 5: The Past and the Danger

"Holy cow!" Spike flew low to take in the gorgeous view. "I didn't know you guys had _plants_!" Grass and flowers towered in every direction. They swayed, throwing colorful pollen into the breeze.

"Of course we have plants," Ember said. "Where do you think I got the straw? And Twilight's breakfast?"

"Oh yeah." Ember had brought a pile of flowers into the dining hall when Spike dragged her out of bed. He'd totally forgotten. _Say something else. You look like an idiot!_ he chided himself. "It's beautiful," Spike added, feeling lame.

"Just wait," said Ember with a grin. "This is nothing. There's so much more-"

"What's that!" Spike exclaimed. He pointed to what looked like a black lizard romping in the tall grass to the left.

"You don't have shadewings?" the Dragon Lord asked incredulously. "They're everywhere. I had one when I was little."

Spike slowed to get a better look at the spindly creature. "Cute!"

"It died."

"Oh . . . less cute?"

Ember shrugged. "Eh. That's life. Hey, we're getting close."

Spike looked ahead, his chest welling with giddy laughter. A shape was rising at the horizon. The occasional dragon flew to or from the volcano, tiny as butterflies so far away. Spike couldn't wait another minute to see the place. He whooped and sped for the landform. _I'm finally going to find my parents!_

The volcano revealed its full height as Spike drew closer; it rivaled Ember's lair in height. He perched atop the jagged lip and looked for Ember. He easily spotted her blue form in the sea of green. Her wings worked furiously as she caught up.

"Boy you're fast," panted Ember. "And stupid. For all you know, the big strange dragons could've eaten you without a second thought." She elbowed him.

Spike elbowed back. "ONE bite? Hardly! I'm as big as _you_ were when we met," he pointed out.

"Yeah," retorted Ember, "and I'm as big as Princess Sunbutt. And they could eat _me_ in one bite. C'mon, it's straight down from here." She elbowed Spike hard, and he fell into the mouth of the volcano, diving after him.

He plummeted straight into darkness. Spike yelped and opened his wings, his heart thudding in his ears. _I'm okay?_ he verified. Safely coasting, Spike glared up. There was no visible sky; just a shadowy Ember. "You gave me a heart attack!" Spike growled. Ember just stuck her tongue out at him.

Spike caught a flash of color behind his sick-humored friend. The interior walls were painted with bright colors, made visible by wall torches that spiraled down the volcano. Rainbow spirals and zigzags covered nearly every bit of the rock in chaotic beauty. Spike turned as he drifted to the ground so he could see every angle.

"Whoa." This was amazing! He wished he could tell someone about this - his Day in the Spike audience would _love_ it! "Oh, no!" Spike realized. "I haven't even given them the last update!" And obviously he couldn't _now._ But Celestia knew how long they would be at the nursery; he didn't want to risk updating late without any explanation. _I'll have to ask Twilight to do it,_ he decided.

"Hey Ember," he called to the airborne Dragon Lord. "Favor! Can we send a letter to Twilight right now?" When she landed, he explained his request for Twilight. Ember looked quizzical when he mentioned Day in the Spike, so he started explaining that, too.

Ember held a claw up: Stop. "It's okay, I don't need your whole life story. Sure, if you've got a note I'll do the - fire breath thing."

Spike grinned, "Always," and burped up a fresh piece of parchment. "Learned that trick on my own," he boasted, finding a piece of charcoal to write with. Spike wrote,

 _(from Spike) There is a scroll and photos from yesterday in my cave. Get them and put on my PPP pls & thx_

Twilight would know what to do. Satisfied, Spike rolled up the parchment and handed it to Ember. She took the scroll like it was a dirty diaper. After staring for a second, she tossed it in the air and caught it in a stream of orange fire. Just like that, the scroll was gone.

"Still weird," Ember concluded. "Now can we do what we _actually_ came for?"

A new voice came from the shadows. "Dragon Lord Ember?" A shape crept into the torchlight. A gray-green dragon about Ember's size. "What brings you here?" he growled. The armored dragon's movements were tight, his expression wary.

Ember's eyes narrowed. "My business is none of yours," she replied coolly. "My guest and I are here to visit the nests. You will escort us there."

Spike blinked. He hadn't expected such hostility between allies.

The newcomer hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, Dragon Lord. This way." He loped into the shadows, Spike and Ember at his heels. They approached a wall of rock. He held a claw to the stone, and part of it vanished, revealing a bright space full of chatter. The earthy dragon stood aside and waved the visitors through.

"Thank you, esteemed guard," murmured Ember as she passed him. "Your name?"

The guard fixed his gaze above the Dragon Lord's head as he answered: "Lichen, Dragon Lord."

Ember nodded. "Lichen. You can return to your watch, Lichen. Spike-OOF!" A bright red blur barreled into Ember. She stumbled into Spike, and they all fell in a heap. "Oww! Get off me," Ember growled.

" _You're_ on _me,_ " protested Spike. He wriggled out from under Ember and saw the red figure. A baby dragon sat on her chest, looking all too pleased with themself. Ember seemed irritated in equal measure.

Spike melted. "Awww! Hey kiddo," he cooed, and gently lifted the smaller dragon to the ground. "You're a really fast flier! Better be careful next time. What's your name?" he asked.

The hatchling fluttered her tiny wings. "Comet," the toddler squeaked.

"Nice to meet you, Comet," said Spike. He got on claws and knees. "I'm Spike. Can I give you a ride back to your mom?"

Comet grinned, nodded, and clambered onto his shoulders. Spike rose to his feet to find Ember smirking. "Rens," she said. She walked into the noisy cavern. Natural light filled the place, and Spike glanced upward to find the sky once more.

Spike jogged after her. "What?" More dragons came into view. They huddled on nests of stones and flew in the space overhead. Most were adults the size of a Ponyville house, but a few little ones orbited the parents. He watched them, picking his way between empty nests.

"Comet's rens," Ember repeated. She made a sweeping motion at all the dragons. "And sibs, of course," she added slowly, her expression quizzical and far-off. She shook her head, as if to clear it. "Hey, I'll take Comet. You go ask about your parents. Any of the older-looking ones should work," she said vaguely, and lifted the hatchling off Spike by the armpits.

Spike just stood for a moment, bewildered. How was he supposed to know anyone's age? He saw a brown-orange dragon with a bunch of scars across the room. The dragon sat on a rock, surveying the nursery. They seemed as good a choice as any. Spike marched up to them and cleared his throat. "Excuse me."

The dusky dragon glowered at Spike. "Eh? Who're you?" they half-shouted.

"Oh-I'm Spike," he introduced himself. "I'm new here."

"What?" yelled the stranger. They cleaned an ear with a claw and leaned closer.

Spike repeated, "I'M SPIKE. I HAVE A QUESTION."

"Well why didn'ya just say so!" retorted the dragon. "Go ahead 'n' ask yer quesh'n."

Panic struck him. This was the moment! And he hadn't prepared. He needed time! Spike had to stall. "Uh, WHAT'S _YOUR_ NAME?" he asked. You know what, maybe this was wrong. This old dragon didn't seem all there.

"Me?" said the stranger. "That's not what you wanna ask. Old momma Crag kin see it in yer eyes." She jabbed a claw in Spike's face. "Now ask fer real."

Spike swallowed. "IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, CRAG," he shouted. "I AM LOOKING FOR MY PARE - MY RENS, I GUESS. CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE TO FIND THEM?" He chewed his lip. This was weird. Spike prayed for a coherent answer.

Crag slithered off her rock and got nose-to-nose with the younger dragon. "Hmmmmmmmm," she went. Hot breath tickled his chin. "Yer ears. And yer colors. S'only one dragon I know what looks like ya. And they're in the Sunflower House."

"The Sunflower - is that even a real place?" Spike hissed.

"EH?" shouted Crag.

"I SAID THANK YOU," lied Spike. "I HAVE TO GO. BYE, CRAG." He high-tailed it out of there, searching for Ember among the colorful scales and broken eggshells.

She found him first. Something grabbed his shoulder. Spike turned to face a wide-eyed, panting Dragon Lord. "Spike!" Ember hissed. "Spike, something's wrong. Look at the nests. Look what's missing!" She flailed her arms.

Spike fought to understand. "Ember, slow down. What's going on?" he prompted.

That just got Ember mad. "Don't tell me what to do! Spike, the _eggs._ They're missing! They've been keeping it from me I'm the Dragon Lord and Boulder said they're going MISSING! Someone's stealing them Spike! And they didn't TELL ME SPIKE." Tears welled up in the Dragon Lord's eyes. This was serious.

Ember hardened again. "Outside," she growled. "Now." And she rocketed up through the vent of the volcano. Spike could only blink and replay her words. Anxiety squeezed his belly. Something was very wrong with eggs. That was all he knew. Questions buzzing in his mind, he followed Ember outside.

Spike found her hugging her knees on a spot of grass. "Ember," he said, "what _was_ that? You just went off. Can you repeat, this time more slowly?"

" _I'm_ the Dragon Lord, Spike," Ember reminded him, her voice harsh and hoarse. "And they dared keep this from me. One of the rens said their eggs are being stolen in the night. There are usually way more than that. How DARE they? This is the future of our kind, and they HIDE it from me!" She slammed her fists on the ground.

Spike instinctively stepped back a pace. "Whoa, for real?" he breathed.

Ember nodded miserably. "Spike, I have to go find them. Who knows how many are gone forever? We can't afford to lose any more time. I'm sorry. We have to cut the visit short. I'll fly you back to my lair."

This was serious. Like, evil villain serious. How would dragons survive without the next generation? Ember absolutely must find those eggs. And he wasn't about to let her do it alone.

His own conversation forgotten, Spike planted his feet and faced Ember. "I want to help." He held out a claw to his sitting friend. "Let me join you, looking for them."

"No," said Ember quickly. "I might be looking for seasons!"

"I don't care," insisted Spike. "Ember, let me help you. However long it takes." His face softened, though his arm remained outstretched.

Ember sighed. She grabbed his claw, and Spike helped her to a stand. Ember scowled. "I swear you're half pony. You have that same stupid face," she grumbled. But her eyes shone.

"Soooo," Spike thought aloud, "what do we do now? I guess we send another letter to Twilight to explain the situation?"

"I guess." Ember ran a claw over her head. "I'd prefer to tell her face-to-face, but we need to start looking _now._ Will she understand? Ohhhhhh . . ." She punctuated her question with a sick groan, doubling over.

"Hey, hey," Spike reassured Ember. "Twilight is understanding. You don't need to be so worried-"

BRAAAAP! Ember burped fire, and a scroll materialized. She grabbed and unrolled it. Her eyes widened, and she gave Spike a terrified look. "Change of plan," Ember croaked. "We're going to the lair."

"What? What does the scroll say?" Spike asked, incredulous.

Ember turned the parchment around. On it was one word, in panicked letters.

 _ **H E L P**_


	7. Chapter 6: Curiosity Killed the Pony

"Love you too," muttered Twilight as Spike and Ember left for the dragon nursery. Without so much as a proper goodbye! She huffed, shaking herself to clear her mind. Twilight's head still buzzed with energy, though it had been several minutes since putting the scroll spell on Ember. _/It's some powerful magic,/_ she conceded. She'd be fine soon.

She looked around the massive dining hall and considered her options. "I'll explore," Twilight decided. An idea struck her, and Twilight squeaked in excitement. "And I'll record every step with my new glasses!"

She cantered to her guest cave, her hoofbeats echoing behind her. She quickly found her quarry: a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses. She had worked with one of her students and Apple Bloom to enchant the glasses so that they would capture and record what the wearer saw. A tour of Ember's never-before-seen lair was the perfect opportunity to test out the prototype! Twilight activated the crystal lenses with her magic. She also grabbed her saddlebag and set off down the hall.

The tunnel wound with sharp curves at a steady incline. Occasionally a smaller tunnel branched off. Twilight followed one, only to come to a dead end. A second tunnel led to more guest caves and scattered jewels. One branch further down looked interesting, but when Twilight saw a snake skin on the ground, she went "NOPE" and bolted.

After so much wandering, Twilight found a polished wood sign she could read. _/Library,/_ it said simply. She found a door nearby, the first in the lair. "I bet this indicates dragons hold places of knowledge in high regard," she whispered reverently. She pushed on the door. It gave some resistance, before popping open.

Twilight was half-blinded by bright light flooding the room. She found herself at the top of a tall, almost cylindrical room. She stood on a gray stone ledge, on which rested a dusty telescope. The huge circular window by the ledge let sunlight into the whole library, which was unlike any she'd ever been in. A ramp spiraled down the walls, which held thousands of images and claw marks gouged into the stone.

Twilight followed the ramp to the ground. The room was empty save for a pile of squarish flat stones, a comfy chair her size, and a single bookshelf crammed to one side. The shelf was scattered with books and colorful stones.

One book caught her eye: a thick, ancient tome that shone with gold. Twilight lifted it from the shelf and examined the cover. It was simple, bearing only a stylized orange sun with a **1** inside. From this close up, it was clear this book was ancient. It felt fragile. But it pulled her in. Twilight gingerly opened the front cover. She turned each page with care, relishing the old book smell and debating what she should do with it.

She _/could/_ fix it. But there was value in preserving such artifacts the way they were. No, there was a much better solution. "I'll make a copy," Twilight decided. She cast the spell immediately; it was second nature to her now. The book rose into the air and glowed. The cover doubled and popped off, followed by the pages. The copied parchment glided into place within the new book, and both of them sank to the ground.

Twilight inspected her handiwork. The second book was a perfect copy - more than perfect, in fact. It was like new, bearing none of the damage or stray ink that marred the first one. And it had that amazing new-book scent, with hints of ancient plants and magic. It was wonderful.

 _/I'll show this to Ember when she gets back,/_ the princess decided. _/Maybe she can even learn the spell herself!/_

Twilight was interrupted by a flash of magic overhead. Her magenta aura materialized into a small tube, which fell to her hooves.

The princess recognized it immediately. _/Ember's first scroll! It worked!/_ she thought with a grin, which turned upside-down quickly. _/It might be bad news, or worse,/_ she noted. Apprehensive, Twilight opened the scroll.

There were just a couple lines of text, written in Spike's distinctive claw-writing. _/(from Spike) There is a scroll and photos from yesterday in my cave. Get them and put on my PPP pls & thx/_

Twilight shook her head, chuckling. She'd gotten worked up over nothing. "He just couldn't wait a _/bit/_ longer. Yeah, all right, I'll send it," the princess assented. She put the original book away and slipped the copy into her saddlebag.

Though she didn't know how to get back to familiar caves, it only took a moment's thought to solve that. Twilight magicked her glasses once more, making them replay her journey to the library, backwards. It wasn't perfect, but she could sort of match the image to reality and work from there. It was brilliant!

She soon found Spike's sleeping cave. His scroll was lying on the floor next to a small pile of black-and-white photos of Rarity with her butterfly wings. Twilight skimmed the scroll. It seemed fine, so she closed her eyes and prepared to do her magic.

Twilight lit her horn and cast the MagicShare spell, her crowning magical achievement. Her aura stretched into a box shape with an opening on top. At the same time, she picked up Spike's scroll to convert inside the spell. She dropped the parchment into the box and waited for a screen to pop up with the image of the scroll.

No screen appeared. The magenta box remained alone, solid but unattached. "What?" snapped Twilight. This had never happened before. "Oh, come on! Work! Please?" Anxiety and annoyance swirled in her chest. What was she doing wrong?

She was probably just tired from doing the copy spell. Probably? She hoped so. _/Maybe my abilities ARE slipping,/_ she worried, thinking again of her pathetic attempt on Spike.

Twilight sighed, ending the spell and letting the scroll flutter to the ground. She didn't want to deal with this right now. "Let's enjoy this trip," she instructed nopony. "We'll diagnose the magic issues later." She put her hoof to her chest, collecting all her stress there, and let it go as she drew the hoof away. Better.

"Well," Twilight said, "I think we're done in here. Time to read this book!" She grinned at the corner of the book poking out of her bag. Ember's dining hall would be the perfect place to read it, the pony decided.

Twilight stepped into the hall. A rhythmic thumping reached her. A moment later, there was a deep voice. "Who's there?" the stranger called.

That's what _/she/_ wanted to know. Ember hadn't mentioned anyone else . . .

A hulking figure emerged from a huge, dark space to one side of the dining hall. Twilight's eyes widened as she recognized Torch, the previous Dragon Lord, before the Gauntlet of Fire. _/Ember's father./_ She'd had no idea she was even in contact with him! The dragon was still massive, though she could have sworn he was the size of the entire mountain lair when she last saw him. His movements were slow and deliberate, but he otherwise looked the same.

 _/This is amazing,/_ Twilight realized. _/It's the perfect opportunity to interview him. I can ask him so many things about the history of the dragon lands!/_ As Princess of Friendship, this was what she was born to do!

"Oh my goodness, I didn't mean to intrude," she called, letting her voice carry. "Down here!" she added, as Torch started and swung his head around to find the voice. "Hi! I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. I'm visiting Ember for a few days," she explained. "It's great to finally meet you!"

Torch locked his eyes on her and scowled. He bent down for a close look. The old dragon's eyes _/alone/_ were almost as big as Twilight. She gulped, and forced a smile and a friendly wave. "Um, I've heard a lot about your mighty reign, Torch," she said, suddenly hoarse. "I, I'm sure you have a lot of, uh, wisdom to pass on. Is it okay if I, if I ask you some questions?" She did her best to maintain eye contact, bracing her shaky hooves on the stone floor.

The dragon just kept staring. He was so close to Twilight his eyes were half-crossed. It would be funny if he wasn't a creature capable of eating her in one bite. _/No, don't think about that,/_ Twilight commanded herself. She froze a friendly smile onto her face.

Finally, Torch spoke. "Twilight Sparkle the pony. Yes, my daughter has told me about you. She made me promise not to touch you." He drew a claw up. Terror gripped Twilight. That claw was bigger than Luna! He was going to smack her, or crush her, or-

Torch scratched his nose, thoughtful. Twilight heaved a huge sigh that she turned into a giddy laugh. "Heheh, that's . . ."

"That wasn't a joke," rumbled Torch. His scowl grew deeper. "You're lucky you are under Ember's protection, Twilight Sparkle," he continued with a menacing sneer. "You are not welcome here." He slowly turned away, shuffling back to his breakfast.

Twilight blinked rapidly, trying to process his words. Had she done something wrong? _/I can't leave a bad impression on him, of all dragons!/_ She had to try again. She cleared her throat and hopped onto the table. "I'm sorry," Twilight called. "If I did anything to upset you, I deeply apologize. Is there any way I can make it up to you?" she offered.

 **WHUMP!** Torch slammed his claws onto the table. It shook, displacing the top of the gem pile and making Twilight stumble and cry out. Her glasses got knocked halfway across the table, but the pony didn't dare retrieve them. She crouched, watching in frozen shock as the massive dragon threw his head back and roared.

He got in her face and blew hot smoke from his nostrils. "Make it UP to me? You dare invade the great Islands of the Dragons and ask if you UPSET me? You and every other pony abomination can disappear, as you should have eons ago. Were it not for my daughter, I would have ended you the moment I laid eyes on you. You will NEVER atone for what you've done, and if I see you for another heartbeat I will END you. NOW GET OUT!"

His threats were a terrible cacophany that made Twilight's ears ring. Holy Celestia she was going to die! Somehow, she got her frozen legs to move. Twilight turned tail and bolted. The echoes of Torch's roars followed Twilight down the hall to her guest cave. Was Torch chasing her? She couldn't tell; she could hardly hear her own hoofbeats over her erratic heartbeat.

Twilight reached her cave. Her eyes darted around the room. She needed to hide. Had to get safe! She found a nook on one side and dashed inside. Twilight held her breath, ignoring her burning chest as she strained to hear Torch.

No sounds appeared to be nearing her. Twilight let herself breathe. She willed her heartbeat to slow a bit, and slumped against the wall.

What just _/happened?/_ It had all just, so fast. But this place was dangerous. Twilight didn't even want to breathe for fear Torch would chase her down.

No, that was stupid. She was safe, at least in here. The space was way too small for the former Dragon Lord. But no way was she going back out there. _/Not alone./_

She needed Spike. Twilight had to get Spike and Ember there. They'd be safe together. She'd write them a scroll. Twilight started reaching into her saddlebag, but then she remembered her writing stuff was across the room. _/Oh no . . ./_

She had no choice. Praying Torch truly was out of earshot, Twilight reached out her magic for some of her blank parchment, ink, and a quill. She shakily brought them close. She was so shaky, her levitation failed two feet away. They crashed to the ground, the ink bottle clinking as it hit rock.

Twilight knew she wouldn't be able to do any more magic in this state. She stretched a hind leg out and dragged the materials the rest of the way to her. Then, still hugging the wall, she took the quill in her teeth. _/How long has it been since I wrote like this?/_ she wondered. Years and years. She was going to be terrible.

 _/But it's okay,/_ she thought. _/I just need to get them over here. All it takes is one word./_

She awkwardly tilted her head to dip the quill in ink, and shakily wrote her message. Twilight formed the letters **H E L P** and dropped the quill. Then she rolled up her parchment and sent it to Ember. All that was left to do was wait, and pray.

"Twilight!" Spike's voice came from the direction of the dining hall. "Where are you?"

She sat bolt upright. How long had she been waiting? What time was it? "I'm over here," the princess croaked. Twilight scooched out of her hiding spot. "You got my scroll." Relief flooded the alicorn; they could fly to safety now that Spike was back. She'd decided they would go as _/soon/_ as he got there.

"Of course we did!" cried Ember. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She approached, eyes wide with concern.

Ember moved like Torch. Twilight fought the urge to flinch. "Yes, I think so. But - I'm sorry, Ember - we need to go right now."

"What happened?" Spike asked incredulously. "You look like you saw a monster."

Torch's gaping maw flashed into Twilight's mind, and her heart stopped once more. _/I did./_ "Spike, now. I'm sorry we have to cut our visit short. Get your stuff. I'll explain later, I promise." She gathered her own things into her saddlebags with magic, relieved she could at least levitate again.

Spike wasn't moving. Twilight glared at him. "Now! We're going!" She felt her leftover fear sharpening into anger. They needed to get to safety! And Spike was putting them in danger with every passing second.

The dragon shuffled his feet. "Twilight, I'm - No."

 _/"What?/_ " Twilight stared at her friend.

Spike hesitated, but he stood his ground. "I can't tell you why. I'm sorry, but you have to trust me. We came here to help you. What's wrong, Twilight?" His voice had an edge.

Anxiety was crawling through the pony's fur. She repeated, "I'll tell you on the way. Come on! Ember, thank you for hosting. I'm sure we can find our own -"

"Twilight!" Spike insisted. "I said NO."

Twilight flinched. She opened her mouth to make a sharp comeback, but Ember was in the room. So the princess twisted her features into her sweetest smile. "Could you excuse us for a moment, Ember?" she cooed. Twilight shot Spike a hard look and walked into the hall.

"Listen," she hissed, "we don't have _/time/_ for this. I know you want to figure out your past and that's great, but not right now -"

"You don't realize how important this is!" Spike shot back. "But I'm _/not/_ going. Listen to me telling you I am staying right here!"

"And _/I'm/_ saying COME!" commanded Twilight. She stamped a hoof. First he interrupts her scroll spell, and now this! "We're in danger, Spike! There are other ways to figure out your parent situation. Now stop being a selfish kid and pack your things!"

Spike's spines flared. "ME? The selfish kid? Look in a mirror, _/princess!"/_ he mocked. "You sent us a letter for nothing! We thought you were in DANGER!"

"WE ARE IN DANGER!" screamed Twilight. Why couldn't he get that into his hard little head? "I'M IN CHARGE. WE'RE GOING." She turned on her heel and flew down the hall. "WITHOUT your sack. OR ELSE."

"OR ELSE _/WHAT?/"_ the dragon shot back. "I'm not a kid, and you're not my mom! You can't punish me! And we wanted you to go anyway! SO - **BYE**." He took off down the tunnel in the other direction. His voice muffled, Spike added, "THIS ISN'T EVEN ABOUT MY . . ." and the rest she couldn't make out.

Twilight could only stare after the little dragon. She hated when he was so stubborn! But she knew Spike. Give it a minute and he'd come back clasping his claws and staring at the floor and then he'd apologize and they'd make up.

She just had to be patient.

Aaaaaany minute.

Just a bit longer?

After a tense full minute, it finally sank in. Spike wasn't coming. He just wasn't.

Twilight almost went after him. But she couldn't face Ember. She imagined the Dragon Lord standing tall, her accusing eyes trained on Twilight, so much like Torch's.

"I - can't," Twilight rasped. Panic was filling her chest again. She had to get out. She'd been there way too long. Twilight bolted down the hall and found an opening to outside. She squeezed through the hole and soared over the barren dragon landscape.

Fly. Just fly. Look for the ocean. Twilight didn't let herself think of anything else. She ignored even her fear as she reached the shining water. Get home. Get safe.

She tried to ignore the ocean as it waved to get her attention. _/Told you it would be different,/_ it seemed to say. The water was right. Her life would never be the same.


	8. Chapter 7: Magic Blood Cave

/ _Stop being a selfish kid and pack your things!/_

How dare she? How could Twilight just casually invalidate everything Spike was like that? Did she even see him as more than that?

Spike paced the dark hall, his tail lashing. It was _/insulting./_ Spike would have none of it. What Twilight said was _/not/_ okay, and he was going to let her know. He marched back to where they'd talked and thought of a dozen cool things to say.

It was empty. No sign of Twilight anywhere. Was she gone?

Scratching his head, Spike made his way back to Ember, who waited uncomfortably outside the princess's cave. "Hey, did Twilight come back here by chance?" he asked.

"Nope. Did she leave or something?" the Dragon Lord replied.

"I . . . I guess so." _/Oh./_ Now that Twilight actually was gone, without any warning, Spike felt weird. And sad. It didn't feel right, but what could he do?

Maybe he should go after her. Spike was mad, but he didn't want them to part on bad terms like that. Especially because who knew how long he would be here?

They'd never been separate that long.

Fear joined the weird sadness pooling in Spike's chest. How had everything changed so quickly!? _/I don't know if I'm ready!/_ he realized. Spike jolted, as if to chase after Twilight. But he didn't know what direction she went.

 _/She didn't even tell me./_ She didn't tell him why she sent the letter, and she didn't even leave a goodbye note or anything. Did Twilight really need him so little?

Well. Good riddance. She was leaving anyway. Time to move on. Spike forced a smile for Ember and finished, "So that's done. We need to start looking for the eggs now. No time to lose, right?" He forced any thought of the princess to the back of his mind. _/Focus on now./_

They flew through the empty dining hall and out the usual tunnel. Ember led Spike to a new part of the island. A small stream led the pair to a deep gorge. Dozens of dragons their size sprawled on the grass, sniffed around the rocky faces, and chased each other in midair.

"This is Youngblood Gorge," Ember explained. "We'll start here. We need to get some search parties going." She darted into a large, shallow hole dug into one of the cliff sides. Spike followed and noted piles and piles of glittering jewels that littered the place. Several teenage dragons leaned against walls or perched on rocks, apparently guarding the hoard.

Flip was one of them. "Hey, she lives here?" Spike pointed to the purple dragon.

Ember sighed. "Yep. That's why we're here. She's going to head one of the groups. HEY FLIP," the Dragon Lord called, loping toward her.

Some of the other dragons glanced Ember's direction, but they kept their bored positions. Spike tiptoed after Ember, meeting Flip beside a colorful gem pile. Flip looked irritated, but maybe that was just her default. She drawled, "Oh goodie. A surprise visit from the Dragon Bored. Lemme guess. You need me for something else."

Ouch. Ember stood with her head high. "As a matter of fact, I do. I'll explain outside." She bared her teeth for a moment before stalking out and flying to an empty place on the grassy top of the gorge.

Flip didn't even acknowledge Spike as she flew stiffly after Ember. What was her deal? Spike didn't comment, though. Just sat quietly as his friend recounted their time at the nursery, the missing eggs, and their journey to Youngblood. She left out the bit about Twilight.

Their companion's eyebrows got higher and she leaned more forward with every word. She looked almost _/giddy/_ to hear the news. When Ember stuttered to an uneasy finish, Flip grinned and rubbed her claws together. "Oh, that is RICH. You're in so much scat, Ember."

The Dragon Lord leapt to her feet. "We're ALL in trouble here. I don't think you _/get/_ what this means for the future of dragons!"

"Oh, believe me, I get it," Flip assured the shadow towering over her. She leaned on her elbow and picked at the grass. "The future of our entire nation rides on a healthy brood. It's amazing, Ember. More than three years and you _/still/_ can't even get respect even when lives are on the line. _/Great/_ leadership."

That one even hurt _/Spike./_ He snapped, "Hey what's your _/deal?/_ Ember's doing great! I'd like to see _/you/_ do better!"

Flip shot a contemptuous look at him, but Ember cut in. "Spike, it's fine. I'm still the Dragon Lord. So you still have to do what this _/terrible/_ leader says, Flippy. And I say you're helping us get a team to search the whole island. You even get to be team leader. _/For now."/_ She gave the taller dragon a menacing glare.

Flip rolled up into a sit with an exaggerated eyeroll. "Yeah, all right. But I've got some questions. I doubt it's complete coincidence that _/this/_ one -" She pointed a thumb at Spike - "somehow ended up out of _/his/_ nest however long ago. You said you went there looking for your parents, yeah? Well, where'd they say they are?" She fixed Spike with a pretty terrifying stare.

Uh, no. It probably _/was/_ nothing but coincidence his egg ended up out of his nest. Spike didn't voice his dissent, though. He said, "One dragon thought I looked like someone from a place called the Sunflower House. Does, uh, does that ring a bell?" _/We're totally off topic./_

Immediately the dragon's purple eyes lit up. "Oh wait - that could totally work!" exclaimed Flip. "I read about the Sunflower House a while ago. The place is legit. It said the dragons there can read _/minds_. _/_ That would be perfect for interrogation!"

Ember raised an eyebrow. "Interrogation."

"Thing is, nobody knows where they are," Flip went on as if Ember hadn't spoken. Her eyes were bright. "I wasn't sure they were even _/real/_ until you said that. They're supposed to be hidden somewhere on the island, in this camouflaged mess of plants. But I'm sure the _/Dragon Lord/_ can find them with your magic blood cave." She smirked at Ember.

Spike hadn't seen Flip excited about anything until now, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Ember seemed to feel the same; she just had this vaguely pained look on her face.

"Yeah, okay," she finally said, her voice tight with exhaustion. "You're right, Flip. It would help to have those dragons on our side. I'll go and find out where they are. In the meantime, _/you/_ need to be recruiting these guys." She gestured to the scattered teenage dragons. "Meet back here at dawn with your team. Spike, you're coming with me." Ember kept her gaze trained on Flip as she said it.

The purple dragon shrugged and ran on all fours toward one group of lazy dragons, while Ember walked to the cliff's edge. Spike followed a few steps behind. "Sorry, I'm still catching up on the conversation. So the Sunflower House is real? And we're going to a cave that will show us where it is?"

"Yep. It's over here," Ember said. She pointed down, to Spike's surprise. "We have to climb down to it." With that, she clawed at the grass and lowered her hind legs onto the rock face.

Holy macaroni, _/climbing?/_ Spike stared down at the river that rushed at the base of the gorge, far below. But then he saw everything else. Tons of clawholds, and enough room to fly if Spike fell off the wall. _/We're gonna be fine,/_ he chuckled.

"Cool," murmured Spike with a nervous grin. They climbed down past a lip, and that was when Spike saw the cave across the gorge. It was tiny by normal dragon standards, though any teenager would easily fit. Dirt and rock quickly gave way to a pitch black, oval tunnel.

Once directly across from the cave, Ember sprang off the wall. She rolled and landed on the floor of the cave. She stood and flashed Spike a thumbs-up.

The smaller dragon nodded and followed suit. His short legs only got him halfway across, so he flapped his wings a couple times to stick the landing. "That was fun!" he decided.

"Just wait," said Ember in a half-whisper. "This is going to be the coolest thing you do all day. C'mon." They crept inside, and Ember pulled the Bloodstone Scepter from nowhere again. She made it glow in the near-darkness, so the whole cave took on a heavy red light.

"So, uh, if you don't mind my asking," Spike whispered, "where exactly are we?" He was also burning to know how Ember hid her scepter like that, but one question at a time.

Ember grinned. The face looked lethal in the dim light. "Spike, welcome to the Library of Blood." She enjoyed his blank face for a moment before continuing, "Don't worry, it's not that sinister. This is where we got the stone in this thing." She drew one claw over the scepter's gem. "And there's loads more in the walls. Tons of knowledge is in here, Spike. But only the rightful wielder of the scepter can access it."

"You mean I'm not allowed to be in here?" Spike worried. He looked back, trying to locate the way to the entrance. He didn't want to intrude on sacred ground.

"No, you're good," Ember said quickly. "Dragons can come in here whenever they like. They just don't because they can't do _/this."/_ And with that, she held the glowing scepter up. All around them, lines of red grew on the cave walls like streams of water. They flowed at all angles, always perfectly straight. Where the lines met, distinct shapes lit up. Red spiderwebbed toward a point overhead.

Ember stepped into a circle that had no lines, leaving faintly glowing footprints. "This is the coolest part," she whispered. The blue dragon pointed her scepter up, at the meeting point of more than a dozen lines met.

The Bloodstone glowed bright. The meeting lines did the same, and then the bright spot traveled along one of the lines. It turned at other meeting points until it reached one of the glowing shapes. It was a circle, with curved lines protruding from it. It seemed vaguely familiar . . . . Spike guessed it was a stylized sunflower. The flower pulsed warmly with the light. _/Beautiful./_

"That's it. The Sunflower House," said Ember in satisfaction. "Hey, Spike, c'mere. You need to be close to me to see it."

"See what?" Spike obeyed and approached the dark circle. As he reached the edge, his toes jammed against hard stone. "Auurrgh!" he growled, falling onto all fours. "You didn't tell me it's a raised platform!" he hissed through the awful, awful pain.

Ember raced over. "You okay?" she asked, half sympathetic and half amused. She stuck out a claw to Spike to help him up.

"Yeah," he grunted. Spike took her cold claw and eased to a stand, leaving red claw prints where he'd fallen. "What am I looking at?"

"Just, look up," his friend instructed. She planted her claws on Spike's shoulders and turned him to lean back slightly. "And then look at the very edges of the lines."

Spike did his best to study the red webbing without losing his balance again. For a second, the images and lines just looked randomly placed. He shifted uncomfortably. Then, all at once, he saw the bigger shape. They were staring at a giant map, which came into perspective only at the platform. Spike recognized Ember's lair on one side, and the nursery not far off. The Sunflower House appeared to be east, halfway across the island. And where every line met -

"Is that us?" he whispered. He pointed straight up like Ember had.

"Yup," murmured Ember, tickling his ear. "Pretty cool, huh?"

 _/Twilight would absolutely love this./_ The thought came unannounced, along with a sharp pang. Spike pushed it away. Not now. "Yeah. It's amazing," he breathed. _/How many hidden places are right here on this map?/_ He turned to the image of the Sunflower House. "So, the Sunflower House. I'd love to explore some more, but we should go," he suggested.

"You're right," said Ember. The weight lifted from Spike's shoulders as Ember backed off the platform. As she did, the edges of the map started to fade. Ember disappeared her scepter and waved Spike after her. "We're losing daylight. Let's go meet the Scholars."


End file.
